Torn 4 Ways

[High Fidelity 0]

I'm going to get myself a good wireless mic for my re-launched caberet career, and boy, what trouble I'm having deciding which one to go for.

 

The ideal would be a room with a load of different mics set up to try them all, but that's not possible, so I'm getting opinions from as many sources as possible.

 

Fairly certain it's going to be shure, as I used to use a shure in my earlier caberet days.

 

But how do I decide between these, or any others for that matter, when the price differences are so little.

 

http://www.imuso.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?StockCode=PA00259 £289

 

http://www.imuso.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?StockCode=PA00260 £299

 

http://www.imuso.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?StockCode=PA00261 £319

 

http://www.imuso.co.uk/ProductDetail.asp?StockCode=PA00262 £339

 

I've been told by a couple of people that the Beta58 sounds slightly harsher than the SM58, and that the PG58 is indistinguishable from the SM58 with regard to sound, but has a slightly tighter cardoid pattern, which helps reduce feedback.

 

The SM86, I know nothing about, and haven't heard anything about.

 

I'm hoping to borrow a PG58 for this weekend, and while typing this, I've just had a brainwave. (phone call coming your way Steve :joe: ).

 

So, anyone elses opinions very welcome.

[BigBen 0]

Amazing coincidence Paul, I spent yesterday researching the very same thing - although not for singing purposes! I have narrowed my choice down to the wireless PG58 or SM58 too.

 

Out of all the web sites I found, Mercury was my fave, although not the cheapest.

 

I intend to rack mount mine- Thomann do the Shure shelf cheaper than anyone else I could find.

 

Once you have decided, we could combine our purchase to try and get a bigger discount..? I'll pm you.

[Steve_Mitchell 0]

Mercury is where I got mine from...I can assure you the service was excellent. In fact I even call them to thank them...Credit where it was due.

[Kingy 0]

I have just added three Db Technologies 910 (note 910, not 901) radio mics to the existing one I had. I love these, they have a Beyer head and are the best I have found on a very extensive market. Retail @ about £249 ish inc.

[UKHero 0]

I like the Senhisser E135 UHF dual diversity & Multi frequency so you can cut out Mr Taxi Driver..

 

about £300 from ebay but dont buy from china.....

 

Car 67..... Now that was a wierd tune...

 

 

Nik

[Bolan-Boogie 0]

PG 58 is excellent for the money tongue out icon

[norty303 0]

Might want to look into what implications the selling off of the radio spectrum could have on future use of radio mics.

 

Here's a piece pasted from a discussion on Blue Room forum. Perhaps worth putting off the purchase until its decided.

 

"At present, the majority of radio microphones and In Ear Monitors use UHF frequencies in the same band as broadcast television. There are, in effect, three ways to legally use UHF radio mics. First, right at the top end of the range, there is a small chunk of bandwidth (enough for 2-4 mics) that can be used without any licence at all.

 

Just below this, is UHF channel 69. This is dedicated to PMSE (programme making and special events) use and, although you need a licence, this is relatively inexpensive per year. Depending on the quality of the equipment you have, you can get between 8 and 14 microphones in this channel. You can also use this alongside the licence free channels to expand things, but it should be pointed out that there is potential interference between Ch. 69 and the free spectrum, so you have to be cautious about what frequencies you choose.

 

However, you can see that 14 to 18 radio mics doesn't go very far when you consider that a West End show may use 40 or 50 mics...and be working next door to ANOTHER theatre also trying to use 40 mics!

 

At present, users get around this by using spare TV channels. There are (if my count on fingers is right) 47 UHF TV channels. Each location (at present) should receive things on 11 of them (five analogue and 6 digital). Because of the high power of main TV transmitters (up around a megawatt for some analogue) there is great separation between areas where individual frequencies are used. Even with overlap (where I am I can get 3 different transmitters) there are always at least some "quiet" channels that can be used for radio mics.

 

Under the present regulatory structure, JFMG can issue licences for shows to use these quiet channels. These special licences aren't cheap, but when they're issued, JFMG have taken into account potential sources of interference (i.e. other shows or studios) and also interference you might cause. Because of the relatively low power of radio mics, you can cram quite a few users into relatively small areas like the West End. It's a very effective system.

 

However, the new proposals will allow quiet channels (and even the guard bands between channels) to be sold off to other users once analogue television is switched off. Potentially users are generally various forms of mobile communications and, with higher powers involved, these are unlikely to coexist very well with entertainment users.

 

Also, a major disadvantage for PMSE users is that there simply isn't a monolithic "industry" that can put in a bid to compete. Phone companies are big multinationals; we are a collection of individual theatres, shows and churches.

 

So, to answer twiggy's questions, it could be any of the above. We may lose frequencies entirely or find that the price to get any is so high we might as well have lost them. They may try to cram ALL users into Channel 69, or they may allocate some totally new band for our needs that means huge re-equpping. Clearly, none of these plans is good for us, hence the importance of writing to both OFCOM and our MPs asking the PMSE be made a special case and allocated enough of the RIGHT frequencies at an affordable price."

[Bolan-Boogie 0]

Norty is correct to be honest. Not the best time to be spending serious cash on a radio mic, due to reallocation and de-licencing of certain frequencies due to everything going digital

[UKHero 0]

Guess thats the next thing to go digital then... Its a digital life time when your living by numbers...

 

Name the Band lol

 

 

Nik

 

[Corabar Steve 0]

Guess thats the next thing to go digital then... Its a digital life time when your living by numbers...

 

Name the Band lol

Nik

New Muzik

 

[Bolan-Boogie 0]

Great track ! tongue out icon

[Andy Westcott 0]

Preferred 'World Of Water' myself...

[High Fidelity 0]

Trouble with waiting for the "Sell Off" to be finalised is that it could be a year or two before it's finalised.

 

My own personal view is that there are too many big users, ie: TV companiies, theatres etc to let the governement actually do this. I think the cost to businesses like these would probably more than the governement would make from the sell off.